A new dawn (Chapter 1)

--== Neia ==--


It was early in the morning, the sun was barely up and it was still cold in the cave. Neia slowly got up and looked around her at her fellow tribe members who were all still asleep as far as she knew and she would've smiled if their immediate situation wasn't so grim. Their fire had died last night since they didn't have any more wood to feed it with and what little food that they had left wasn't going to nourish them for much longer, she had to go out and forage. Silently she got up and moved to the entrance of the cave and picked up a pouch to carry berries and roots aside from a flint dagger in case she needed to protect herself or cut something loose. She looked at the two young men who kept watch over the cave entrance, gave them a silent approving nod before stepping outside.


As she stepped outside she felt a chilling breeze blow past her and she shuddered. Winter was still a fresh memory and even though plants have been growing for weeks now it still felt cold. She took a moment to take a look at her surroundings and she noticed the entrance to the cave they were in was located halfway down the steep slope of a rocky hill, maybe even a small mountain. There was a natural path on the side of the slope that went up to the top and the other side went down towards a large plain with some hills and what looked like a small river with a large forest all over the place. They would have fresh water, lots of plants, firewood and prey, but the large forest would probably also house predators. Neia smiled as she started down the natural path to the river and the forest to start providing her people with food whilst humming.

--== Iree ==--


The movement coming from Neia did wake up someone a little more to the back of the cave. The rustling of furs over stone caused Iree to open her eyes. It took her a few seconds to figure out why her world was completely gray until she rolled over and figured out she had been sleeping on her stomach, face pressed down on the stone floor. She crawled up and checked on the person she had been sleeping next to after monitoring him all night. He seemed more okay now, although he was still feverish and she had ran out of herbs to help him. After checking his wounds, which were healing slowly, she too made her way to the cave's entrance with her herbs pouch and a flint knife to get the right vines, leaves and seeds. As the new medicine woman, she had learned what to use and what not and how to recognise the plants.


She stretches her muscles and lets her eyes adjust to the beauty of their newfound land before she heads into the woods, looking for the herbs she needs to treat wounds, fevers and other diseases that could spread throughout the people of their tribe. It was now her job to keep them healthy and to keep them connected to their gods. But her main priority was their health. And she did need the gods' help for that. So she prayed. She prayed she would find the right herbs. She prayed the gods would lead her the right way.

-- Asha-- 


Asha knelt beside her mother and some of the other tribes women as they tended to the skins of the seals the men had hunted the previous day. It was hard work but they depended on these skins for clothing and shelter. They had proved to be much better than other animals when they needed to stay dry in winter so hunting the seals wasn't just necessary for food but also to their survival in the coming snows. Their tribe wasn't as large as others they had sometimes glimpsed in their migrations, with only twenty adults and several children. They were a tight knit group and Asha already had her eye on a future mate. They had a pleasant time as they scraped, washed and tended the skins by the side of fire; their small huts made of sticks, mud and underbrush providing the only shelter from the elements. It was not ideal and far from the safety of the caves they preferred but there were none this close to the seal breeding grounds so they worked quickly and prepared as best we could.  


From the mountains a pack of wild wolves had come. A pack much larger than anything Asha had ever seen, outnumbering them several to one. They had encircled the camp and attacked several of the men before anyone even knew what had happened. The women screamed and grabbed the children, shoving them into the small huts as they tried to protect them. The others quickly grabbed their small daggers and  lances and turned, ready to protect  the tribe but several were already down. Asha watched as her father's throat was ripped open as she watched and her younger sister was dragged into the trees by a large wolf that had found its way into their hut.  The space between them was too large for her to be able to do anything other than scream he sisters name.  All around her people fought and Asha grabbed her own lance and stabbed at several of the animals who were slowly approaching. The battle seemed to have lasted an eternity but Asha did not know long it had actually been before she found herself as the only survivor in the camp. Bodies littered the ground and the blood of her tribe seeped into the sea water turning it red. Several wolves were dead and others feasted on their dead prey, the only family Asha had ever known. Surrounded by death she looked around and tried desperately to find a way to survive but she could not think of anything so instead she continued to stab at the wolves killing one, a female with a scar across her eye and a chunk of her ear missing. Behind Asha a wolf jumped, grabbing her by my furs  and taking Asha down into the dirt, shaking her violently until it felt like her head would explode.


She screamed. She screamed as loudly as she could, refusing to let death take her so easily and that is when it came. A large Bear had broken through the canopy of the trees and roared, spittle flying from its mouth as it did so. Most of the wolves cowered where they stood before turning to see what was approaching. Two launched themselves at the Bear and were swatted aside like mere insects. Tucking tail between their legs several ran back to whence they came from but the ones surrounding Asha decided they were going nowhere. They had worked for that prey and were not willing to give it up. One wolf stood between Asha and the Bear and Asha could not help but wonder how much worse  things were going to get. Death by Wolf or death by Bear were not options she wanted to think about too much. The wolf behind her bit into her furs and tried to drag her further away as a second sunk its teeth into her arm. A third wolf tried to bit into her leg where her furs were wrapped for warmth but did not manage to puncture the skin. Asha  screamed louder, her voice hoarse,  and the pain and blood as the wolves fought over her body became so intense that she started to see specks of white in her field of vision.


The Bear had somehow managed to come closer to and Asha prayed to the gods that she would be allowed to rejoin her tribe in the afterlife before deciding that perhaps she should fight a little more. Grabbing a small flint dagger that littered the floor she  stabbed the wolf tearing at her arm. It yelped before sinking it's teeth into her again. The Bear had come closer and taken out the wolf at her leg, breaking its neck with it's powerful jaws,  leaving only two behind. It stood to full height and roared loudly, his teeth large and terrifying as it did so, blood coating its muzzle and fur from the animals it had injured or killed. It clawed at the wolf biting into Asha's arm and the wolf  let go of her, turning to defend itself. The Bear clawed at it again as the wolf jumped aside, yelping as blood gushed from its hind quarters. Asha looked down and saw long and deep gouges where the bears claws had scraped her skin, along the arm and leg already bleeding, and she screamed before passing out with the pain.


She did not know what happened only that she woke up to a camp full of the bodies of her people, all dead. The wolves that had attacked them were gone, leaving behind their own dead. Asha grabbed at her arm and leg, still bleeding, before wrapping some furs around them and  slowly dragging herself to where her mother's body lay. Weakness from blood loss and the injury to her leg made it hard to move but Asha had to see for herself. Her mother was dead. They were all dead. From the trees she heard the howls of the returning wolves and  knew she had to run. Grabbing a large fur from the dirt, and her own lance where it had dropped to the ground Asha tried to run and failed, falling over twice before she reached the trees on the far left side of the camp.  She ran and ran as the wolves around me howled in the distance. Asha ran even faster as she heard the Bear roaring once more. She ran because it was the only thing I could do.


Asha woke up... 


Looking around she saw she was in the safety of the cave, where her new tribe slept. It was only a dream, the same dream she always had. The same memories of the day she lost everything. 


By the entrance Asha saw two others had risen and wrapped her furs closer to her body for warmth, allowing her breathing and racing heart to still once more. She was safe. The wolves were long gone, the bear - that was something else entirely. One day she would have to tell this tribe her story but she didn't know how/ It wasn't just the language barrier that stopped her. In the meantime she was lucky they did not think her haunted and left her to die alone somewhere. Beside her a body stirred and a woman reached towards her, touching her scared arm lightly. "Asha?" she whispered. Asha turned and rested her hand on hers and gestured towards the fire, letting her know she was getting up and  going to tend to it. The woman smiled in reply, patting Asha's hand like some lost child, and laid back down again. A new day was dawning and work needed to be done. 

--== Maado ==--


He had been up all night chewing on oak leaves whilst drawing the story of their trek towards this new home on the walls of the cave with some mixture of the red rock from the ground and some mud. He looked at the depictions of his tribe, the many beasts they encountered, the storms, the winter and the arrival to this place and smiled happily. He adjusted some details on the drawing before paying attention to the tribe around him. Many were still asleep, some were waking up to start doing chores and others went to sleep after a night of keeping watch over the fire and keeping an eye out for predators. He took some ash from the fire pit to refresh the black coat he had on the higher part of his face before walking outside and sitting down on the ridge in front of the cage and looking up to the sky.


"Thank you Prigwe for watching over me." He said to the spirit of his mother, hoping she was listening before he began meditating on the edge and started repeating everything his tribe knew in his head whilst he kept on chewing the oak leaves. He heard every step and movement that people made around him but he never reacted lest he would break his cycle and forget something.

~Coah~
The break of dawn was a good signal, as it were to be had, this marked the start of a new, clear day. For Coah, however, it meant the end of the watch. Untensing the grip on his axe, he let the first rays of sunlight warm him up. The rain had been heavy and the breeze harsh; it wouldn't surprise him if he caught a cold. However, he chose to let time decide on this matter. His mind was set on returning to the camp, dozing off after being up since yesterday's afternoon and hopefully finding a comfortable patch to rest.

The forest and the steep that led upwards had been quiet, for all of its hints, it seemed that the storm had made the animals retreat. Nothing had approached the base of the mountain and things had been relatively calm throughout the storm, but taking chances with a bear or a pack of wolves could put everyone at risk. When he made his mind that the guard had been successful, Coah started to walk up towards the cave the tribe had resided in for a couple of days; as for the other people who could've been on the edges, he knew not about their whereabouts but his assumption stood on the notion that they would return later on.

He marched slowly on his way up; The sun's warm impact was making him cozy. Coah tried his best not to step on the mud puddles and to take in the view as he rised from the ground level: The forest was wide and seemed like a nice place to settle, if not too long, for a couple of seasons. As he was darting his eyes around, Coah spotted Neia coming down towards the forest in what seemed to him like a cheerful manner.

"Hello there." He said once they were close enough for him to speak clearly without raising his voice a lot. He was evidently tired, but guarding was still his task until he stepped inside of the cave. "Where are you going?"

Goaty Love

--== Neia ==--

She paused her walk when her fellow tribe member Coah came up the path and spoke to her. She liked Coah, he worked hard, was generally nice and was easy on the eyes. "Hey Coah, just setting out to get some food, we're running out right now." She said with a sweet smile as she looked up at his tired face. "You look tired Coah, I hope watch went good?" She asked as she noticed Iree walking past them and into the forest, making a mental note to catch up with her once she was done talking to Coah. She put a hand on Coah's arm and looked up at him as she spoke. "If you want to go to sleep I won't hold you up."

Rhakun

~Coah~
Coah felt comforted by Neia's hand; being on the expectation for beasts for hours and recieving, in turn, a reassurance helped him relieve the remaining tension of the night. Coah raised his right hand to pat, as a caring gesture, the one that she placed on his arm, but his vision started to double as he did this. In turn, the direction of his palm changed towards his eyes as to shade them from the light. After stumbling a bit, he took the symptoms as a signal of exhaustion and a call to finish his climb.

"The watch went well; all the scouts might return after a while." He said, chuckling a bit at his sudden display of drowse. " As for myself, I'd rather not faint out in the open."

When he felt his vision stabilize, he corresponded her smile and started walking uphill again just to burst in a small realization and turn back a couple of steps later.

"By the way, Neia" Coah said as he browsed through his belt until he chose one of his axes. He picked one sharp enough to serve as a gathering knife, but sturdy enough to smack a lynx if it came to be. "Take this with you. I didn't see many animals during the storm, but nobody can tell if they'll be around now that the skies have cleared."

Goaty Love

-- Asha --

Grabbing her weapons and slipping them onto her back and belt, Asha stood- she never went anywhere unarmed, even inside the cave. Placing a fresh lump of wood onto the fire and ensuring it lit up well she collected the excess dust from the nights burning. Taking a small patch of animal skin from inside her furs she placed the black dust in its center and wrapped it carefully. Quietly she made her way to where Maado was sat and placed the pouch in front of him, taking care not to disturb his meditation. He used the dust to create murals inside their caves and she liked to watch him work during the storms that kept them inside and listen when he taught the children the lore of the tribe.

Slowly she walked out of the cave, checking to make sure all was well with the more elderly tribe members. Shielding her eyes from the morning sun she straightened and took a breath of fresh air. Asha liked this new land. Its green and abundant fields and the small stream were a good source of fresh water, wood and hunting for the tribe. She hoped they would stay here for a while. Grabbing a spear from near the entrance she made her way towards the river, spotting Neia in the distance as she spoke to Coha. She didn't spend a lot of time with the members of the tribe, mostly she felt awkward as she was still relatively new having spent only one winter with them thus far. She hoped to one day find friendship and even a mate. That reminded her of Nuram - the man she was meant to mate with before her blood tribe had been slaughtered- and a tinge of sadness touched her heart. Her father always told her that in times like that a good hunting was all that was needed. A prayer honouring the Gods and dedicating the carcass to them would provide solace and strength and take sadness away. Asha decided that was just what she would do so she ran towards the river, spear in hand, to wash away the dust from the night.

Running past Neia and Caho she waved and y the time she reached the river she felt much better. She washed in the cold water before sitting down and thanking the Gods for another day. She took a few minutes to apply a salve onto her freshly healed scars. A greasy animal fat based concoction that Iree had given her to help the healing process. It would last all day, even in water. It relieved the redness in the area so she took care the follow the Medicine Woman's advice. Then she stepped into the river, her spear held firmly in her grasp, and started fishing.

--== Neia ==--

She listened to Coah's responses and gave him a reassuring pat on his arm before he walked on towards the cave. She was quite surprised when he turned around and gave her one of his axes and his reason for it. "Thank you Coah, I appreciate it." She said with a kind smile and look in her eyes. "Probably won't need it against animals but it will come in handy for collecting wood." She added before she said another thing with a warm wink. "I'll catch you this evening." She turned and walked down the hill as intended with a smile on her face as she put the axe away safely.

She looked at Asha fishing and called out to her. "Good luck!" She then headed into the forest and breathed in the still damp forest air and laughed pleasantly as she enjoyed being amongst trees again. She managed to catch up to Iree and asked with a happy tone. "Morning Iree, need help?"

Rhakun DarkThea Moonshadowme

-- Iree --

The moment Iree steps into the shadows under the tall trees, she sighs relieved. The sun was barely up and already quite harsh. She prefered the shadows of the forest and the cave, even more when it was getting too warm in the sun. She took her time to let her eyes and ears adjust to the darkness and the silence. The moment she started looking around she immediately spotted a tree with loose bark and some moss growing on it. And as she let her eyes drift further, she spotted more moss. There really was a lot of moss in this part of the forest. She thanked the gods, moss was one of the most useful things she had ever found, just like willow bark. Hopefully there would be willows near the river.
After taking in her surroundings she started moving towards the tree with loose bark, but stopped, a bit startled, when she heard a familiar voice call out to her. She turns around and sees Neia walking up to her. Iree smiles. "Morning Neia, slept well? And I could indeed use some help collecting the treebark. It's already a bit loose, but cutting off pieces is always easier with two."

--Asha--

The sun was high in the sky when Asha was finished fishing. She had gathered enough fish to feed the tribe a good meal. After such a hard winter they needed all the extra food they could muster.
Sitting on the side of the river she bent down, grabbing one fish at a time, and using her smaller flint knife, scrapped the skin of the fish to remove the scales. In summer when food was plentiful she would remove some of the fish entrails but at this time even these small extras made a difference in their diet. Sometimes, if you were lucky, you even found some fish ova inside them and Asha loved those.
Her task finished she ran up the mountain again and dropped the fish off by the entrance, leaving them hanging by a string of leather, on the head of her fishing spear. They were clean and ready to cook so she did not wish to sully them with dirt again. Grabbing her sturdier hunting spear she weighed it in her hands, ensuring the head was balanced before committing to it. Waving to a tribe woman who walked towards her to collect the fish Asha smiled and look towards the valley again She had seen movement on the far side of the river, along the tree line. It always made her nervous and she never left it unchecked. A dread filled her, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, and she wondered if perhaps this once she should take someone with her.
Turning, she walked into the cave and decided to consult with Coah. He was a good hunter and warrior and his opinion was always appreciated.

Rhakun

~Coah~
As Coah entered the cave, he saw Maado in concentration. He felt an urge to inform the lorekeeper about the things that had been observed during the first day after the downpour, but nothing had been particularily peaking of interest that couldn't be seen by a quick glance outside. A lot of the tribespeople seemed to be at rest and many had yet to wake and the sight of that gave the hunter a sense of completion: their guarding had worked.

Taking an internal note to warn Maado about the possibility of beasts outside later, Coah layed over a patch of soil that was farther from many rocks and set himself to rest with the covering of his furs. He napped throughout the morning until his tiredness was gone. Upon waking, he walked through the insides of the cave now illuminated by the sunlight. The place seemed spacious enough for all the tribe to live in; if the Modai were lucky, no animals would have been residing there before to reclaim the cavern as theirs.

Entered the latter hours of the morning, a lot of people had gone outside. Coah wandered the interiors of the cave in silence until he saw Asha entering through the crevice. He felt a lot of sympathy for her; they both were strangers to Moday once and being introduced to the tribe changed their lives for the better. Still, it would be a stretch to say that he knew her very well: both of them were dutiful and that complicated interacting. However, after noticing what he percieved as an intent to approach, his attention diverted from his walk to her.

"Hey there."

DarkThea